Zootopia House of Cards: The Two of Clubs
by Old Goat
Summary: What happens when you're left suddenly alone after your best friend has started hanging out with a new friend? Finn has trouble coming to terms with having been left behind as Nick moves on with his life after meeting Judy. This is the third short story in the Zootopia: House of Cards Series.


**Zootopia House of Cards: The Two of Clubs**

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 **What happens when you're left suddenly alone after your best friend has started hanging out with a new friend? Finn has trouble coming to terms with having been left behind as Nick moves on with his life after meeting Judy. This is the third short story in the Zootopia: House of Cards Series.**

 **In Cartomancy, the two of clubs can represent that you should take time to reflect upon your life and any perceived injustices that you feel you have suffered, such as a conflict you may have with a friend.**

 _I do not own the rights to Zootopia or any of its characters. This story was written solely for the reader's enjoyment and without any profitable purposes. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this story are fictitious._

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"I'm so bored!" the tan furred fennec fox sighed to himself as he stared out of his beat-up old van at the traffic which passed by the dank dark alleyway where he had parked for the afternoon. The small fox named Finnick was a born con artist and lived by hustling others for a buck or two, nothing major but just petty crimes. Today, however, he was in a bit of a funk and just didn't feel like doing anything. With a sigh, he looked down at the crumpled empty packet of cigarettes that was laying by his side and frowned because he had smoked the last one earlier.

The small fox in the rumpled red bowling shirt was lonely, sure he had sometimes been on his own since his parent's tragic death, but for the last nineteen years he always had his partner in crime and friend Nick Wilde by his side. The younger red fox had been around since he found the runaway pup wandering the streets and took him underpaw, together they made a great team. "I can't believe I miss that big goofball," he huffed out as he dug around inside the van for something to do and found an old deck of cards in the back which he recognized as belonging to the larger red fox. Opening the box up, he began sorting the cards into stacks by their respective suits and after satisfied that they were all accounted for, he shuffled them together.

With one last shuffle, he began dealing out seven cards in a row, the first was face up and he chuckled because it was the two of clubs. "Great way to start a game of solitary," he grunted to himself as he continued to deal out the cards. Looking over at the baseball bat that was propped against the van's door he snickered as he gave a small smile. "I have always been partial to a good club."

He played several hands before he once again became bored and went back to shuffling the cards as he thought about the day THAT RABBIT came into their lives. She was so naive and self-righteous at first, falling right into the trap that Nick had planned. "Forgot my wallet...I can't believe she fell for that!" Finn muttered as he pulled a card out of the deck and grinned because it was once again the two of clubs. How many times had Nick played that scam? It always worked on some emotional sap who would come to his rescue, especially when it was something the fox wanted to buy for his little "son". He cast a look over at the wadded up elephant suit which he often wore during their father and son jobs. Few pray mammals were familiar with fennec foxes, so his small size made his being the larger red fox's toddler surprisingly believable.

Slipping the card back into the deck, he pulled another one out and frowned when he saw it was the queen of hearts. "She was so patronizing that day!" he laughed. "I about dropped that damn oversized popsicle when she told Wilde that he was as a real articulate fella!" Shoving the card back into the deck he looked around the alleyway and noticed something he hadn't seen before, a large old top hat sticking out of a trash can. Hopping out of the van, he walked over and stood on his toes to reach and pull down the large hat. It was way too large for the fox's head, made for a much large animal, and was worn and stained. Climbing back into the van he wondered who would have owned such a fancy hat and why it was in a trash can in what could charitably be called the wrong side of town. Looking around, he knew that most of the building around the alleyway where he was parked were decrepit and boarded up, just like the majority of the once-prosperous neighborhood that was once ironically known as Happy Town. Sure, there was the pawnshop down on the corner next to the liquor store and Mister Ling's convenience store across the street, but most everything else had been abandoned. He frowned when he noticed some faded wording on a rusted backdoor. He could barely read the words from where he was sitting and although the first part of the name was illegible, the remainder read ... & _Son's Suit-topia._ "Some poor sap's dream that died just like the neighborhood," he muttered.

Tossing the hat aside, he looked down at his cell phone with a sigh. It wasn't even two in the afternoon and way too early to have a drink with his on and off again girlfriend Shelia. The petite kit fox didn't get off of work until six that evening, but he wondered if by then she might be willing to have dinner at a cheap diner and maybe something else a bit more fun back at her place? He smiled at that thought before he remembered that she was still mad at him about their date on Saturday. It was going really well, just like he planned until he ran short of cash after the movie and they had to split the dinner bill. Sheila spent the remainder of the night harping about how he should get a real job. "Who'd hire me for a real job!" he scoffed out loud as he shuffled the cards again. Setting the stacked cards on the bumper, he cut the cards and was surprised to see the card that showed was once again the two of clubs.

Picking up the cards, he began another game of solitaire. "Solitaire…like being alone!" he softly growled in an agitated tone as he turned the cards. "Just like my life has become." Setting the deck down he reflected on that day Judy came pounding on his van's door a year ago to find Nick. "I should have told her to stuff it, but she looked desperate!" Shaking his head, he sat back and stared at the van's roof. "She got her hooks into Red and now he's not only gone straight but has become of all things a cop." His eyes caught the hat sitting there and his ears shot up as he had an idea on how to keep himself entertained. Gripping the hat, he jumped out of the van and set it on the ground before climbing back up and after scooping up the cards, he took aim as he tossed card after card toward the hat, trying to land them inside.

As he flicked the cards toward the hat that was on the ground just outside of the van's open door, he pondered how Nick suddenly had no more time for his old pal now that the bunny was in his life. No longer would they hang out in the bars or play a round or two of billiards at one of their favorite watering holes. "Sorry Finn, I've got to work," or "I'm going to meet Carrots for dinner, maybe next time," was something he heard more and more when he'd call the fox. His ears drooped and he scratched his chin when he realized he was jealous of Judy! She had replaced him as Nick's best friend and he was left hanging. Setting the deck down, he pushed back against the inside wall of the van and pulled a pillow against his back as he looked up into the sky. His frown slowly changed to a thin smile when it suddenly occurred to him that there was something going on between Nick and Judy that he didn't realize until now. "Damn, the fox has the hots for the bunny!" he chuckled to himself as he reached over and picked up the closest card to him from the pile. He looked over at the card and hesitated before he flicked it at the hat because once again it was the two of clubs. Clasping it in his paw, he snuggled against the pillow as he stared at the card.

There was the gentle rocking of the van which caused the small fox's eyes to pop open in surprise as he awoke from his nap and instinctively he reached toward the baseball bat. "Whoa there big fella!" a familiar voice called out and he looked up to see a red fox in a blue polo shirt sitting on the tailgate flipping playing cards toward the hat which was still on the pavement outside of the van.

"Wilde!" the small fox grunted. "You get lost or something?"

"Something like that old pal," the red fox shrugged. "I was just in the neighborhood and stopped by to see if you wanted supper and maybe play a round of two of pool over at Greens Pub?"

Dropping the card that he still was holding, Finn grinned at his friend because he knew that Nick's new apartment was a long way from the alleyway and that the bigger fox had to take a couple of buses to get all the way here. "Loser buys the drinks!" he laughed as he hopped out of the van, with his tail happily wagging, to pick up the hat and cards before he locked the doors. "And you always lose Wilde!"

The larger fox just laughed as he bent over and picked up a card that had fallen out of the van before the door was closed. Finn smiled as he looked at the card that Nick handed him before shoving it into his back pocket; it was the two of clubs.

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 **That ends this short series of stories, I hope you enjoyed them! Next week we begin a new adventure called Zootopia: A Paradox in Time: A strange pocket watch is found with the bones of a murdered victim. Nick and Judy find themselves dragged into the past and the only way they can save themselves from being trapped there forever is to stop the murder.**

 **Also October 1st is a big day for Raccoons and to celebrate, Nick's best friend Jake Runnel is returning in another story! I wonder what kinds of troubles our fox and raccoon get into this time?**


End file.
